Cape weather: Have a laugh, despite clouds

The National Weather Service says today will be mostly cloudy with areas of drizzle and patchy fog this morning with highs today in the upper 60s.

KAREN JEFFREY

Looks like we’ll have to wait for the weekend to catch a serious glimpse of the sun, so in the meantime how about a little cheering up with some Will Roger’s wit and wisdom, or perhaps you’d like to know what a British professor determined to be the funniest joke in the world. If that doesn’t suit, how about some Monty Python?

Before you descend into today’s forecast, how about a taste of Will Rogers, the humorist and social commentator, who once asked, “If stupidity got us into this, why can’t stupidity get us out?”

This and more can be found in today’s Extra Stuff below.

The National Weather Service says today will be mostly cloudy with areas of drizzle this morning. Patchy fog this morning. Highs will be in the upper 60s. Northwest winds will be around 5 mph and becoming southwest this afternoon.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy. Lows will be in the lower 60s. Southwest winds will be 5 to 10 mph.

For a more detailed or extended forecast visit the National Weather Service Web site.

Traffic:SmarTraveler is reporting no major problems on major roads leading to and from the Cape. But look for lane restrictions and delays around the Dennis exits -Exit 9 a and Exit 9b - in Dennis as maintenance work continues on the Route 134 overpass.

For an up-to-the-minute report visit SmarTravelerOr call: 511 or 617-374-1234

For a live look at traffic on the bridges visit Cape Cod Live Cam

Your Day’s Extra Stuff

According to British Professor Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire , “One of the most important parts of the body’s defenses against disease and illness is its immune system. Experiments suggest that people who laugh more, and are able to look on the funny side of life, have healthier immune systems than others.”

In pursuit of what makes us laugh Wiseman and British Association for the Advancement of Science decided to study what makes people laugh. To do this they solicited people’s favorite jokes worldwide and asked them to rate how funny they found the jokes submitted by others.

The project was reported across the globe, resulting in us receiving over 40,000 jokes and 1.5 million ratings.

The researchers “counted the number of words in every joke that people submitted. According to the data, jokes containing 103 words are the funniest.

“Many of the jokes submitted contained reference to animals. We found that jokes mentioning ducks are funnier than others. Perhaps it’s because of their beaks, or webbed feet, or odd shape. Regardless, the implication is clear – if you are going to tell a joke involving an animal, make it a duck.”

Researchers also, “estimated that a good laugh produces an increase in heart rate that is equivalent to ten minutes on a rowing machine or fifteen minutes on an exercise bike .”

To read more about the study, what was deemed the world’s funniest joke, and more about some of the quirky studies and books written by Wiseman visit the Laugh Lab.

If you’re too young to remember or recognize references to Will Rogers, then you don’t know what you’re missing. He was a cowboy, humorist, actor, social commentator and perhaps one of the nicest men in the world.

“I never met a man I didn’t like,” was his credo of genuine love and respect for humanity and all people everywhere. He gave his own money to disaster victims and raised thousands for the Red Cross and Salvation Army.

If stupidity got us into this, why can’t stupidty get us out.

My ancestors didn’t come over on the Mayflower, but they met the boat.

We shouldn’t elect a President. We should elect a magician.

The difference between our rich and poor grows greater every year. Our distribution of wealth is getting more uneven all the time. A man can make a million and he is on every page in the morning. But it never tells you who gave up that million he got. You can’t get money without taking it from somebody.

The Republican platform promises to do better. I don’t think they have done so bad. Everybody’s broke but them.

Democrats take the whole thing as a joke. Republicans take it serious but run it like a joke.

We would never understand why Mexico wasn’t crazy about us. We have always had their goodwill, oil, coffee and minerals at heart.

If Rogers is too folksy for you, how about a taste of British absurdity via Monty Python. Check out their version of the Worlds’ funniest joke at